the gratitude of those who benefit by his benevolence."

"Let him stand himself for the borough, and we 'll not deny the debt,"
said Tiernay, roughly; "but if for every ten he should expend a
hundred, ay, sir, or a thousand, on the village, I 'd not vote for Mr.
Linton."

"Most certainly, doctor; I'd never seek to coerce you," said Cashel,
smiling.

"Labor lost, sir. I am your tenant for a holding of twenty-two pounds a
year. I have never been in arrear; you, consequently, have not granted
me any favor, save that of extending your acquaintance to me. Now,
sir, except that you are a rich man and I a poor one, how is even that
condescension on your part a favor? and how could _you_ purpose, upon
it, to ask me to surrender my right of judgment on an important point
to you, who, from your high station, your rank and influence, have a
thousand prerogatives, while I have but this one?"

"I never heard the just influence of the landed proprietor disputed
before," said Kenny feck, who felt outraged at the doctor's hardihood.

"It is only _just_ influence, sir," said Tiernay, "when he who wields
it is an example, as much by his life, as by the exercise of an ability
that commands respect. Show me a man at the head of a large property
extending the happiness of his tenantry, succoring the sick, assisting
the needy, spreading the blessings of his own knowledge among those who
have neither leisure nor opportunity to acquire it for themselves. Let
me see him, while enjoying to the fullest the bounteous gifts that are
the portion of but few in this world, not forgetful of those whose life
is toil, and whose struggle is for mere existence. Let me not know the
landlord only by his liveries and his equipage, his fox-hounds, his
plate, his racers, and his sycophants."

"Hard hitting, doctor!" cried Cashel, interrupting.

"Not if you can take it so good-humoredly," said Tiernay; "not if it
only lose me the honor of ever entering here, and teach you to reflect
on these things."

"You mistake me much," said Cashel, "if you judge me so narrowly."

"I did not think thus meanly of you; nor, if I did, would it have
stopped me. I often promised myself, that if I could but eat of a rich
man's salt, I'd tell him my mind, while under the protection of his
hospitality. I have paid my debt now; and so, no more of it. Kennyfeck
could tell you better than I, if it be not, in part at least, deserved.
All this splendor that dazzles our eyes,--a